Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> May 22, 2001

Angus Russell – Shire Pharmaceuticals Group Plc (shpgy)

ANGUS C. RUSSELL, Group Finance Director of Shire Pharmaceuticals Group Plc, joined the company in December 1999 and is responsible for Finance, IT and Corporate Communications. Mr. Russell served his articles with Coopers & Lybrand and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1979. He joined ICI's Pharmaceuticals Division in 1980 in a management accounting role and subsequently a production accounting role. In 1985 he moved to ICI's Petrochemicals and Plastics Division, firstly in a business accounting role, subsequently transferring to a senior product marketing position in 1986. In 1988, he moved to ICI's Treasury Department in London, where he was responsible for group long-term funding and corporate financing activities in the Middle East and Africa. In March 1990 he transferred to the Corporate Planning Department where he worked on several global business strategies, executed a number of M & A deals, coordinated defense work and oversaw business activities in the Americas, Middle East, Africa, India and Pakistan. Mr. Russell was assigned to work on group restructuring during 1991 and subsequently became a member of the team which planned and executed the ICI de-merger and Zeneca flotation. On February 25 1993, he was appointed to the position of Group Investor Relations Manager for ZENECA Group Plc. On January 1, 1995, he was appointed Group Treasurer for ZENECA Group Plc with responsibility for Treasury, Investor Relations, IC Insurance and was also appointed a Trustee Director of the ZENECA UK Pension Fund. Mr. Russell played a key role in the merger of Astra and Zeneca in 1998 and was subsequently appointed VP of Corporate Finance. In 1999 he was part of a small team which negotiated the Syngata agrochemicals merger with Novartis. Profile
TWST: Could we start out with a quick overview of Shire, just to set the

stage?

Mr. Russell: Shire was founded as a UK-based company in 1986. At that

time it was mainly privately owned by